Erbe: Horrible news about our treatment of animals

When German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) said, “Man is the cruelest animal,” he was, quite frankly, being diplomatic and covering for his species.

I was ready this week to write about Singapore’s high-tech solution to pending food shortage, when two news stories about man’s inhumanity crossed my path and grabbed me by the throat, leaving me no alternative other than to switch topics. The first story concerns the continued illegal drugging of thoroughbred racehorses. The second concerns the slaughter, by hunters, of the most famous wolf in Yellowstone and many of her fellow wolves.

In the former case, The New York Times reported that European countries that routinely buy horsemeat from slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada, where Americans ship horses for slaughter, are starting to boycott it. Why? It’s too tainted with drugs.

The Times went on to recount the ubiquitous use of painkillers, anti-inflammatory medications and other drugs at U.S. racetracks:

Advertisement

“Racehorses are walking pharmacies,” said Dr. Nicholas Dodman, a veterinarian on the faculty of Tufts University and a co-author of a 2010 article that sought to raise concerns about the health risks posed by American racehorses. He said it was reckless to want any of the drugs routinely administered to horses “in your food chain.”

This story raises two unspeakable aspects of America’s treatment of some of its horses. Sadly, racehorses of all breeds are little more than money machines to most owners. Yes, there are owners who take fabulous care of their athletes and retire them well before driving them into the ground. But as long as these sensitive creatures can be drugged to run, it matters not to most owners whether the horse’s legs, muscles, tendons and joints are being beaten into oblivion. Industry self-regulation has proven highly ineffective and it’s time to start thinking about winding down the so-called “sport” of horseracing in the United States.

Time for another quote, this one from English historian, novelist and biographer James A. Froude (1818-94) who said, “Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.”

Many Americans who love wild creatures were heartbroken to learn that 832F, the alpha female of Yellowstone’s best-known pack, was found shot to death by hunters with her tracking collar on. She is the eighth of Yellowstone’s roughly 81 wolves that have been shot in recent weeks while traveling outside the park. Since the wolves were wrongfully delisted as an endangered species by the federal government, hunters with scoped, high-powered weapons have taken great joy in destroying some of them. It’s sickening, so sickening in fact that Montana’s wildlife commission imposed restrictions against killing members of this highly intelligent species in areas near Yellowstone.

Enlightened Americans know that killing any type of animal, whether for consumption or sport is wrong. And the good news is our numbers are growing.

The Huffington Post reported earlier this year, “According to USDA forecasts, the average American will consume 12.2 percent less meat and poultry in 2012 than they did in 2007. Beef consumption has been in decline for about 20 years; the drop in poultry and pork has also been steady for about five years.”

The truth is, if you eat them, animals bite back. Why is heart disease the No. 1 killer in America? It is because we eat too much meat and the cholesterol is killing us. It is the purest form of divine retribution.

One day I believe we will become a society that sees violence against animals, whether in the form of slaughtering cows or beating horses or wringing heads off chickens or teaching pit bulls to kill each other, as the cruelty that it is. We’re getting closer, but we’re not there yet.